Blurb:Bastian had to have been the most handsome man that Katherine had ever met. It really was unfortunate that he was also the most stubborn, controlling, downright infuriating jackass she’d ever known as well. Oh, and there was the fact that he was a werewolf – a werewolf who has bitten her.

Sixteen-year-old Katherine Mayes had never believed in mythological creatures like werewolves or mermaids – certainly not those sparkly vampires that her friend Abby was obsessed with. Even when she’s bitten by a massive animal after a reckless night of teenage adventure and her body begins to change in mystifying ways, she can’t force herself to believe in what she’s convinced is impossible. Little does she realize she’s been infected with a disease a little more permanent than the rabies she feels fortunate to have not contracted.

Lycanthropy.

Her fierce denial is soundly shattered, however, when she is simultaneously saved and kidnapped by Bastian and his pack. Forced to leave small town Iowa behind and adjust to their way of life in a hidden society, Katherine must also deal with fighting the pull she feels towards the man – or wolf, rather – who has bitten her and disrupted her life so completely.

If you have watched Episode 1 of Teen Wolf, then you know most of this story verbatim. Katherine was out where she shoukdnky have been, she got bitten by a wolf then her body started changing. She craved raw meat, body temperature was elevated significantly, dense of smell was heightened etc.

Bastian, leader of the wolf pack, comes to guide her through her change. She is resistant at first because the idea of supernaturals is crazy and Bastian is forced to kidnap her and keep her with his pack. A romance begins to develop etc.

The book was poorly written. It was too elementary in wording, predictable, cliche and so formulaic that it felt plagiarized. This is a book one should read before you read Twilight or any more complex PNR. You can’t experience writers like Patricia Briggs or Ilona Andrews and enjoy a book like this because it was sooo basic in plot, grammar and narrative. I can’t even fathom moving on to book 2.

Blurb: The DFZ, the metropolis formerly known as Detroit, is the world’s most magical city with a population of nine million and zero public safety laws. That’s a lot of mages, cybernetically enhanced chrome heads, and mythical beasties who die, get into debt, and otherwise fail to pay their rent. When they can’t pay their bills, their stuff gets sold to the highest bidder to cover the tab.

That’s when they call me. My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I’m a Cleaner: a freelance mage with an art history degree who’s employed by the DFZ to sort through the mountains of magical junk people leave behind. It’s not a pretty job, or a safe one—there’s a reason I wear bite-proof gloves—but when you’re deep in debt in a lawless city where gods are real, dragons are traffic hazards, and buildings move around on their own, you don’t get to be picky about where your money comes from. You just have to make it work, even when the only thing of value in your latest repossessed apartment is the dead body of the mage who used to live there.

I really liked this spinoff although it felt like a whole new series.Opal Young-Ae is a cleaner who is trying to survive and maintain her independence by paying her bills on time. Opal stumbled on to a house with a dead man, but his notes indicated that he died protecting a valuable secret.

While it’s set in the DFZ, we don’t get a major crossover with The Heartstriker clan although there was a mention of the dragon who protected the City. Opal lays a foundation for her own journey towards freedom from parental interference just like Julius and she also makes a key ally with another cleaner Nick. I like the subtle attraction the author intimated with Nick and Opal so I look forward to some romance in book 2.

If you loved Heartstriker series, then you will love this one as well because the creative storytelling and plot is the same. The characters are likeable and you want to root for them. Rachel Aaron is quickly becomes an autobuy author for me.View all my reviews

Sin & Magic by K.F. BreeneI’ve agreed to work for a Demigod. My job? Find the spirit of his mother and release her before his vengeful father finds out and kills us all.

Have I lost my mind?

Thankfully, I don’t have to do it alone. Kieran has brought in help: a Necromancer who loves to flirt with danger. Bria can help me find the clues to free Kieran’s mom.

She can also help me learn my potent and extremely terrifying magic.

But as we work deeper into magical San Francisco, we uncover a minefield waiting to explode. I’m learning that there are far worse things than death.

Everything was going great. Alexis is working, Mordecai and Daisy are training. They get FOOD and rent is paid. Bria is like that co-worker not quite friend that goes beyound the boss’ instructions. While they end up being right, this path always includes hiding under beds, closets, attics and barely escaping with your life. This book was entertaining and I was very happy…until Alexis drops to her knees for Kieran.
I had to dock this one a half star, I was tempted to dock it a full star because I am quite unhappy. Kieran has this seduction power so I am not convinced that Alexis is so wildly attracted to him outside the demi-god power. I just am not on-board with whatever that is lust thing they have going on. Now, I do like Zoran and Daisy. I would like to see that relationship developed in subsequent books as she becomes of age.

Plus, I fully expected Valens to be aware of what was going on and there was no real retaliation for the trespass. I don’t buy that. The rescue of the skins was exactly what I needed to feel satisfied with this book. I look forward to the bad guy coming for vengeance in book 3

Izzy has always loved the freedom and adventure of life on the road, but she’s recently decided to settle down—as much as a rogue wolf can. When her boyfriend gets her a job working at a hot Shifter bar, she runs into the last person on earth she expected to see again.

Jericho isn’t the famous rock star he once was, though he still plays in a local band and loves to party. Beautiful women come and go, but music is his only passion—until a sassy redhead named Isabelle Monroe shows up unexpectedly.

Fate reunites two former friends living with one foot in the present and the other in the past. But will they have a future when one of them is forced to choose between life and death? Old habits die hard, and sometimes the toughest addictions to shake are the ones that control our hearts.

I liked Izzy and her independent streak. It must have been so hard being around Jericho, her best friend and having a front row (pun intended) seat to his self-destructive behavior.

I am shocked that she moved in with such a douche-bag like Hawk, a guy that she knew nothing about, not even his birthday. I felt like she was using him for a place to stay and he knew that so he took liberties and was using/grooming her as well.

Jericho’s brothers and his band mates treated Izzy with disrespect. And how Jericho would say that Izzy was his best friend but believe she would rob him and leave him for dead in the state he was in, just boggles my mind. Wheeler and Denver, while protective of Jericho, didn’t have to treat her in the way they did so I didn’t really care for them in this book. Packs can protect their own without browbeating a lone shifter.

This book had various shifters, bear, eagle, deer etc. I like that we got to see traits of other animals manifest in their human actions. I also liked the bar where Izzy worked. It gave it an MC feel at the same time it had a Rock romance feel.At the end of the day, Izzy and Jericho made this story entertaining. I do like that they found their way back to each other and that Jericho worked to maintain his sobriety. He sounds like a much better person without the ugly side of his rock star lifestyle.

BLURB:In Molly Harper’s newest paranormal romantic comedy, Ben, Gigi’s old boyfriend, must find a way to save his new love after a freak Ultimate Frisbee accident. But will she want to live after she finds out how Ben had to save her?

In this exciting addition to Molly Harper’s beloved Half-Moon Hollow series, the focus is on Gigi’s ex-boyfriend Ben. When his new girlfriend is killed in a freak Ultimate Frisbee accident, he’s determined to save her, no matter the cost, even if it means bringing her into the darkness of vampire life!

I was bored, okay? Just bored. This is supposed to be a series that I could chuckled though and lift my mood. I loved book 1 in this series and laughed my way through the first 3 books. But it has been a steady decline since then. I used to enjoy the humor and snark but it hasn’t been the same.

This book features Ben (Gigi’s ex whom she dumped when he proposed to her in book 3) and a fellow college student Meagan who seemed to have a secret crush on each other.At a school mixer, Meagan was nearly killed in a terrible accident and had to be turned to save her life. When Ben went to visit her, she accidentally turned him since she was a thirsty newborn.This book was their journey as they struggled to accept their new “undead” reality and process their relationship now.

I didn’t feel the chemistry between Meagan and Ben. I found Jane Jameson annoying as usual. The story was just slow. The narrator was still excellent but this story wasn’t engaging or interesting. This installment was a miss for me.

This book was a welcomed surprise because its is t feel like the same old same old. Sure it had shifters, but the characters felt new, the plot was different and that was enough to keep me engaged.<br /><br />Alexis was a young woman caring for two foster kids, Daisy and Mordecai, when she almost got run over by Kieran, a demigod. Lexie was busy trying to find a blanket as well as earn a living to take care of her wards. Mordecai was sick and Daisy was just a smart mouth teenager. <br />In this book, there was tiers of power depending upon your magical gift. Alexis was thought to be the lowest level of magic and Kieran was the highest. But Kieran senses that Alexis was hissing something and thus he felt compelled to find out what.<br /><br />I enjoyed the interactions between Lexie and Daisy and Mordecai. They were more siblings than parent/kid. There was love and fierce loyalty. Kieran wasn’t a bad guy but his goals to help hi mom and himself were his main objective, so protecting Lexie and the kids wasn’t his first priority. For that, I couldn’t trust him completely. I hope in book 2 we see him in a better light.

No day is ordinary in a world where Technology and Magic compete for supremacy…But no matter which force is winning, in the apocalypse, a sword will always work.

Hugh d’Ambray, Preceptor of the Iron Dogs, Warlord of the Builder of Towers, served only one man. Now his immortal, nearly omnipotent master has cast him aside. Hugh is a shadow of the warrior he was, but when he learns that the Iron Dogs, soldiers who would follow him anywhere, are being hunted down and murdered, he must make a choice: to fade away or to be the leader he was born to be. Hugh knows he must carve a new place for himself and his people, but they have no money, no shelter, and no food, and the necromancers are coming. Fast.

Elara Harper is a creature who should not exist. Her enemies call her Abomination; her people call her White Lady. Tasked with their protection, she’s trapped between the magical heavyweights about to collide and plunge the state of Kentucky into a war that humans have no power to stop. Desperate to shield her people and their simple way of life, she would accept help from the devil himself—and Hugh d’Ambray might qualify.

Hugh needs a base, Elara needs soldiers. Both are infamous for betraying their allies, so how can they create a believable alliance to meet the challenge of their enemies?

As the prophet says: “It is better to marry than to burn.”

Hugh and Elara may do both.

Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins

My reaction when I heard that Hugh d’Ambray would get his own book and perhaps series was “No Thanks.”
This is the same dude who mercilessly hunted Kate Daniels and all those who allied with her. The seemingly soulless Preceptor of the Iron Dogs, Warlord of the Builder of Towers is now given an opportunity to be a hero? Now that he has been purged by his Lord Roland, we are treated to a backstory of a young boy Emile was basically groomed by Roland, Kate Daniel’s bio dad. We are supposed to buy this whole Hugh just wanted to belong story.
For what he has done to Curran, Clan Bouda, Kate etc, it will take more than one fantastically written book to get me there. Simply because past five fantastically written books preceding this one depicted him as Satan’s right hand. It simply can’t be undone in a book, or even a trilogy. But I will let Ilona Andrews give it a shot.

Since Hugh was dumped by his surrogate father and lord Roland, Hugh had to feed his Iron Dogs (army). He makes a political alliance with Elara Harper, the White Lady who needs an army to protect her people and in return, Elara promises land and resources to house and feed the army. A truly symbiotic relationship between two powers who seem to detest each other but their sexual chemistry is palpable.

I had to fight not to get sucked it. I really had to keep reminding myself that Hugh is getting his due and not to fall for the authors attempt at redeeming him. I was getting worn down so I tip my hat to the authors. They made a compelling argument for Hugh. I remember Hugh from the last book though.

Note: This is a story that one should only read if you have caught up on the prior Kate Daniels books. It is so gripping, well paces, lyrical storytelling. This is UF at its finest. I will admit that I loved the book and I loved that Elara was giving Hugh all that he can handle. She still is no Kate, but I like her.

Maybe I am petty but I don’t want Kate or Curran to have anything to do with Hugh. Not even to fight Roland. I want Kate to kick his ass. There is a lot of story left. I have to be honest, I am so curious as to how Ilona Andrews is going to pull this off. Can she get me to be Team Hugh?